


Trouble Is (I Don't Wanna Let Go)

by buoyantsaturn



Series: wsw2020 [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Break Up Talk, Drinking, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Lovers, Hook-Up, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, No Smut, fake dating (but not the way you think), idiots who don't know how to talk about their feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:13:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26129347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buoyantsaturn/pseuds/buoyantsaturn
Summary: “I’ll have you know that I’m going strong on three months single, and I am perfectly happy.”“Well, you shouldn’t be.”“Happy?”"Single."
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Series: wsw2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1896388
Comments: 15
Kudos: 222





	Trouble Is (I Don't Wanna Let Go)

**Author's Note:**

> here's my other contribution to will solace week!! it's a fwb au solely for the comedy of it all. enjoy!
> 
> title from trouble is... by all time low

One year. 

The longest relationship Nico had ever been in lasted _one year_ \- to the _day._ Clearly, the date had meant more to Nico than it had to Clovis. Not only had Clovis apparently forgotten that it was their anniversary - despite the subtle reminders Nico had given him over the past week, and the fancy restaurant they’d had dinner at that night - but he had decided that sometime between dinner and dessert was the perfect time to _end things between them._

So when Clovis headed out, Nico got a few drinks for himself, ordered an Uber, and was halfway across town when he called Will.

“Hey,” Nico said when his best friend answered, his forehead pressed against the cool glass of the car window, “are you home?”

“Yeah,” Will replied, “why? What’s up?”

“I’m on my way over. I’ll be there in like--” Nico leaned between the front two seats to check the status on the driver’s GPS. “--five minutes.”

“Woah, what? I thought today was your anniversary!”

Nico huffed. “Not anymore. I’ll tell you when I get there.”

He ended the call without giving Will a chance to respond. 

Nico, who was in possession of Will’s spare key after Will had lost it more than a few times, let himself into Will’s apartment as soon as he was dropped off by the Uber. He kicked his shoes off by the door and immediately made his way over to the couch where Will was sitting, placing a six-pack of beer on the coffee table before falling into Will’s side. 

“Hey,” Nico muttered into Will’s shoulder. “I brought beer.”

“I see that,” Will replied. “When did you have time to get that?”

“Had the Uber driver swing by a grocery store for me on the way here.” Nico leaned forward and grabbed a bottle from the pack, and held it out to Will. “Want one?”

Will shrugged. “Sure. Why’d you take an Uber?”

Nico grabbed his own bottle and twisted the top off before answering, “Because I’m drunk. Obviously.” He drained half the bottle in one go, and slouched back against Will’s side once again. 

“Gotcha.” Will took a sip of his own drink. “Wanna tell me what happened?”

Nico huffed. “No.” They each took another sip as a moment of silence passed between them. Then: “He’s such an _asshole.”_

“Who, Clovis?”

Nico sat up, and leaned against the opposite arm of the couch to face Will. _“Yes,_ Clovis! He didn’t remember our anniversary, and dinner was super awkward because he barely spoke. And then, right after I ordered some ice cream for us to split, he spewed some bullshit about how he doesn’t feel a _connection_ between us anymore, and then he took off! He ditched and left me with the bill, so I drank a few shots and here I am. Single, _again.”_

“Hey, now, there’s nothing wrong with being single,” Will said. “I’ll have you know that I’m going strong on three months single, and I am perfectly happy.”

“Well, you shouldn’t be.”

“Happy?” 

_“Single.”_

Nico finished his first beer, and Will wasn’t too far behind. 

“What’s wrong with being single?” Will asked.

“Nothing! But _you_ shouldn’t be single,” Nico explained, waving his arms in wild gesticulations - thankfully, the bottle in his hand was already empty. “People should be lining up to get a piece of you! Why are people so dumb? And why is dating so _hard?”_

Will set his empty bottle on the table and opened his arms, gesturing for Nico to come to him. Nico crawled across the cushions and threw himself at Will’s chest with a heavy sigh, and Will wrapped his arms around Nico comfortingly. “Someday, you’re gonna find somebody who _isn’t_ dumb, who actually makes dating _easy,_ and you’ll be _glad_ Clovis broke up with you. But for now, we can have a sleepover. I have another free trial of Disney+ on my seventh fake email address. Wanna watch a movie with me?”

Nico peered up at him with hope in his eyes. “Can we watch _Holes?”_

Will grinned. “Hell yeah, we can!”

_“I can fix that,”_ Nico whispered along with the TV, still slouched against Will’s side and now sniffling periodically. The other four beer bottles laid empty on the coffee table between them, Nico now especially drunk and Will significantly tipsy. 

Nico turned his face into Will’s shoulder, unintentionally wiping his tears on Will’s sleeve as he wailed, “When am I gonna find somebody who loves me like Sam loves what’s-her-face? I just want someone to take care of me.”

Will gasped overdramatically. “She has a _name,_ Nico! Kissin’ Kate Barlow wouldn’t stand for this slander.” He snickered at the end, unable to keep up his serious composure. “Man, I forgot you were such a sappy drunk.”

Nico shot back, staring at Will with the most affronted look imaginable. “I am _not!”_ he squawked. “I’m a _horny_ drunk, but clearly I can’t do anything about that since my boyfriend just _dumped me,_ if you recall. So sorry if I’m acting a little...a little _un-normal_ tonight.”

Will snorted. “You’re cute,” he said offhandedly, turning his attention back to the screen. Nico didn’t appear to have noticed, and Will hadn’t realized he’d said anything unusual at first, just replayed the brief conversation in his head. Will hummed. “I can fix that,” he muttered.

Nico glanced up at him. “What?”

“You’re horny, but you can’t do anything about it,” Will reminded him, and repeated, “I can fix that.”

Nico pushed himself back so that he could look Will in the eye. He didn’t look nervous or anxious or any other bad kind of -ous, so Nico said, “You really wanna…?”

“Why not?” Will replied. “Like you said earlier - being single sucks.”

Nico’s lips were on his before Will even had a chance to finish his sentence. He swung a leg over Will’s lap and straddled his thighs as his hands found their way into Will’s hair. It was like Nico’s mind couldn’t process it all fast enough. Everything seemed to get stuck at _oh my god I’m making out with my best friend,_ and then a few minutes later it became _oh my god Will’s hand is on my ass._ His drunken mind hardly even noticed the change in location until Will was dropping him onto a bed and stripping off his own clothes.

At the sight of Will’s naked form, Nico’s mind froze.

_Oh my god I’m about to have sex with Will._

The craziest thing was...he didn’t want it to stop.

* * *

They laid beside each other, panting, sweat cooling on their bodies. Nico might have been pretty drunk an hour ago, but _god_ if he wasn’t sober now. 

He was afraid to look to the side, toward Will. What was he thinking right now? Was he regretting it? Would he ever be able to look Nico in the eye again?

Had Nico ruined _two_ relationships in a single night?

When Will finally moved - just to pull the blankets up over himself - Nico spoke. “Maybe we should...forget this ever happened.”

He counted his heartbeats. One...Two...Three. Will didn’t respond. Nico didn’t think he could wait any longer, either, so he sat up. “I’ll, uh, sleep on the couch.”

As he started to move away, Will reached out. His hand wrapped around Nico’s bicep, stopping him, but Will still didn’t speak for a few seconds. 

“Sleeping in the same bed won’t be the weirdest thing we’ve done tonight,” he said with a bit of laughter in his voice - obviously trying to cover up the awkwardness he felt. 

Nico’s fight or flight response was telling him to _run,_ but he looked over his shoulder at Will - at his best friend - and felt himself relax. Will had always had that effect on him. 

Nico settled back down. He _was_ starting to feel a little tired, anyway.

Even so, neither of them managed to fall asleep for hours.

* * *

A week later, Will introduced them to his new girlfriend - Gracie, or Macy, or something like that - and Nico tried not to feel...what was the word? Disappointed? Will had been so content with being single, but after one night spent with Nico, he immediately jumped back into the dating scene. Why? Was he really so eager to get the taste of Nico out of his mouth?

* * *

For six months, Nico tried to be happy for Will. He was perfectly polite to...Macy? whenever she was around, and when she wasn’t, he tried not to make a face when she was mentioned. He didn’t let himself think about the night he slept with Will, except when it was late at night and he couldn’t sleep - then he couldn’t stop the thoughts from flowing. 

He couldn’t even make himself look for a new boyfriend. He’d had plenty of time to get over Clovis, hardly even thought about him anymore, really, but that wasn’t the problem. The problem was Will. Nico and Will had never even been _together,_ so why couldn’t Nico get over him?

Nico spent another Saturday night moping in his apartment, ignoring his phone and any real-life responsibilities. He was going to binge something on Netflix, and he was going to fall asleep on the couch with a bag of salt and vinegar chips in hand. 

Or, he was, until somebody knocked on the door. 

“Go _away,”_ he groaned quietly to himself, then threw himself to his feet with effort. He flung open the door with a “What do you want?” already on his tongue, but cut himself off when he saw who was on the other side. 

Will, red-eyed and sniffling, tried for a smile. It nearly broke Nico’s heart. “Can I come in?”

Nico stepped out of the way, holding the door open for Will. “Yeah, of course. What happened?”

Will walked past him, moving inside so that Nico could shut the door, and he wailed, “Lacy dumped me!”

 _Lacy,_ Nico mouthed. He followed Will into the living room, leaning over the back of the couch as Will sat down. “Do you...wanna talk about it?”

Will set a plastic grocery bag on the coffee table and upended it, letting individual cans of White Claw roll across the surface. “No. I wanna drink and forget it.”

Nico’s nose scrunched up. “You’re not gonna get drunk on _White Claw.”_ He straightened up and walked into the kitchen. He opened up the freezer, pulling out a bottle of vodka and a tub of ice cream. He grabbed two spoons from the drawer before returning to the living room. “You were never much of a sad drinker, either.”

Will took the ice cream from Nico’s hands greedily, and dove right in. “You’re right. This is much better.” He shoved a scoop into his mouth and groaned. “She said being with me was like talking to a wall. Like I didn’t pay attention to her. Which is bullshit!”

Nico sat down close enough that he could take a spoonful of ice cream for himself. “I’m sorry, Will. You wanna watch a movie or something? Forget everything for a little while?”

Will leaned to the side until he could tip his head and rest it on Nico’s. “Is this gonna be some kind of new tradition for us? Break-up movie nights where we get drunk and have sex, and then pretend it didn’t happen?”

Nico felt his heart rate spike. He stuffed another bite of ice cream in his mouth to give himself a second to speak. “Well, I guess that’s up to you. I mean, neither of us have started drinking yet, and we _could_ just eat ice cream until we puke. But, uh…” Nico shifted away until he could meet Will’s eyes and continued, “I wouldn’t mind returning the favor. If that’s what you want.”

Will held his gaze for long enough that Nico started to get nervous. Then, Will leaned forward and grabbed the bottle of vodka. 

* * *

“What are you laughing at?” 

“Nothing! It’s nothing, it’s just…”

“Just _what,_ Will?”

“You’re touching my butt!”

“We’re _literally_ having sex right now, of course I’m touching your butt. _How_ is this funny?”

“It’s not! But...okay, you know that one scene in _Friends?”_

“Oh my _god.”_

“It’s like, when Ross and Rachel got together, and Rachel was like, _Ross Geller is touching my butt.”_

“Did you just compare me to _ROSS?”_

* * *

The first Friday of every month, they all went out for drinks. The group size usually varied - not everyone could make it every time, and others sometimes brought dates. In fact, that very Friday, Nico had been expected to bring a new boyfriend around, though he’d shown up alone. He didn’t look happy, either. 

“Hey, Neeks!” Piper greeted, waving him over as if he hadn’t already seen where they were sitting. As if it wasn’t the same corner booth they’d all gathered in every month. 

“Hey,” he replied, dropping into the booth beside Will. 

“Hey.” Will looked around Nico as if waiting for somebody else to follow. “Where’s, uh--”

“Sherman,” Nico filled in for him. He rolled his eyes. “Asshole. Dumped him.”

Around the table, the others made sympathetic noises. 

“That sucks, man,” Jason said. “I’m sorry.”

“What happened?” Leo asked. 

Nico huffed. “Nothing... _happened,_ really.” Nico crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat. “He was nice enough when we met, but… The more time we spent together, the less I could stand being in the same room as him. So I broke up with him.”

Will slid his drink toward Nico, who took it happily.

“Thanks,” Nico told him, and took a sip. He glanced at Will out of the corner of his eye and said, “So, uh. Movie night?”

Leo leaned forward and announced, “Dude, I would _kill_ for a movie night. I’m _so_ in!”

Will’s eyes grew wide in panic. “Uh, this is kind of an... _us_ thing, you know? Like, a breakup tradition thing. But maybe next time!”

* * *

Will’s thoughts were filled with Nico before he even opened his eyes - sleeping with your best friend a handful of times did that to a person, apparently. He rolled over onto his side, but Nico was no longer laying where he had been the night before. Will’s heart started to sink.

He slid out of bed and found a pair of sweatpants to put on before heading out of his room. He found Nico in the kitchen, standing at the stove in his boxers and what looked to be one of Will’s old flannel shirts - a darker one that Will rarely wore. He seemed to notice Will’s approach out of the corner of his eye, because he turned toward Will with a grin, and moved toward the coffee pot.

As Nico poured coffee into a fresh mug, Will stepped closer to him, close enough that he could accept the mug as it was handed to him.

“Good morning,” Nico told him.

“Mornin’,” Will replied before taking a sip. “Thanks.”

Nico’s grin only brightened. He moved back toward the stove and started stirring whatever was in the frying pan - eggs, if the smell was anything to go by. “Do you like anything in your eggs?” Nico asked, confirming Will’s suspicion.

“Cheese,” Will answered. A few more sips of coffee, and Will should be able to speak in full sentences again. For now, he was content to lean back against the counter and watch as Nico moved around his kitchen, sprinkling shredded cheese over the eggs in the pan and placing a few pieces of bread in the toaster.

“How do you like your toast?”

Will frowned. “Toast...ed?”

Nico snorted. Will couldn’t even find any reason to be upset by Nico laughing at him. All he could think was, _how do I get him to laugh again?_

He took another drink. He watched Nico roll his sleeves up to his elbows. “Nice shirt,” Will blurted out before his brain could catch up to his mouth.

“Thanks,” Nico said. He held out his arms and did a little twirl as if showing off. “It looks better on me, don’t you think?”

Will figured anything would look better on Nico - anything, and nothing at all. If he were a little bit more tired, he might’ve said that thought out loud, but thankfully, he’d ingested just enough coffee to develop a brain-to-mouth filter. Otherwise he might’ve done something stupid, like finally confessing his feelings for Nico.

Wait. 

_Feelings?_

Will choked on his next sip of coffee. “Yeah, it does,” he croaked, and tried to hide a cough in his shoulder. “You should keep it.”

* * *

Nico had Tinder downloaded on his phone and hidden in a secret folder. He hated using that stupid app, and he felt terrible any time he did, but he didn’t know how else to get Will’s attention. It wasn’t as though Will would ever want to be with him for _real -_ it was all just some friends with benefits situation. And Nico was the idiot who caught feelings.

So Nico went on dates with strangers, and afterwards, he would spend the night with Will. He hated the feeling of using so many people just to get to Will, but in a way, Will was doing the same thing. Except...Will was actually dating to _date._ Not to hook up with Nico.

Look, nobody ever said Nico’s morals were all that ethical. 

One night, when Nico didn’t feel like wasting his breath on some nobody from Tinder, he skipped the fake date and went straight to calling Will. _Date sucked, dude went to the bathroom and never came back, wanna have a movie night?_

From that point on, Nico never had to fake date again. And on the plus side, he was hooking up with Will almost once a week. As far as he could tell, though, Will was still out in the dating scene. Nico never asked if he knew Will was seeing someone, but recently...it seemed like Will’s dating game had become similar to Nico’s: individual dates that never seemed to go anywhere, that always led to a “movie night” with his best friend. 

Part of Nico was worried that he was ruining Will’s chances at finding the love of his life. Another part of him was satisfied to have Will all to himself. 

* * *

“Hey Nico,” Will said, lying back on Nico’s bed, staring up at the ceiling and allowing his heart rate a second to slow from its racing pace. “When was the last time you went on a date?”

Nico snorted, shooting Will an amused look of confusion. He rolled onto his side, tugging the blankets up over himself as he moved to face Will. “What are you talking about? I went on a date tonight, and it _sucked._ Don’t you remember? The dude went to the bathroom and never came back?”

Will frowned at him. “Yeah. That happened to you last month, too.”

Nico’s heart skipped a beat. Had he used that story once before? Did Will know he was lying? “Uh, no, I don’t think it did,” Nico said nervously. “You must be thinking of somebody else.”

Will held his gaze for a few moments, then rolled onto his side to face Nico, propping himself up on an elbow to leverage himself over Nico. “I haven’t been on a date in six months.”

This time, it was Nico’s turn to frown. “But...what about that girl from last week?”

Will shook his head. “There was no girl last week. There was no guy the week before that, or a month ago, or...in _January._ I _lied._ I’ve been lying to you for months.”

“But...why would you do that?” Nico asked.

Will’s voice was so much softer when he replied, “The same reason you’re lying to me right now.” He reached out with his free hand and stroked Nico’s cheek. It didn’t make Nico feel any less like his heart was going to pound out of his chest. 

“And, uh,” Nico tried, voice so shaky he could barely get the words out, “what reason would that be?”

Will hovered lower over Nico until their lips brushed as he spoke the words, “I’m in love with you.”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!!
> 
> check out solangeloweek on tumblr for more will solace birthday week stuff!


End file.
